Mark & Cousin Olivia

First Home Study Meeting...Check!

We met with our social worker, Kim, last night for our first home study meeting & I think it went pretty well! I asked John to casually tap my knee to signal if I was talking too much (a problem if I'm nervous!) & I guess I did OK because I never got "the tap". Kim seemed very relaxed and laid back & when I saw that there were dog dishes in her bathroom (we met at her house) I thought that we must have found the exact right social worker for us! Thank You God! Our next meeting is July 30.

We also found out we can mail in our first Immigration petition so we are preparing that paper work to get in the mail asap. Things seem to be going pretty smoothly & we are soooooooooooo thankful!

Restrained Whining

Thanks to those of you who are praying for our adoption. I found out recently that our Immigration paperwork could take anywhere from 7 weeks to 4 months! The 7 weeks didn't sound too bad, but 4 months sounds like such a looooooooooong time! And...we have to file two separate petitions at two different times along the way in the process. The closer I get to adopting, the harder it is to be patient! I am aching to hold my little one(s) in my arms & to tell them (& to know for myself!) they are at home & safe with Mommy & Daddy at last! We will get to the Immigration office as soon as we can, but it is an hour away & we need to get there super early on a week day to ensure we even get seen,(no appointments & long lines) so we are trying to find a day John can take off from work asap... Thanks for listening! :)

Random Thoughts

Our family seems very adoption minded these days. One of our hens has adopted a tiny baby turkey! It's funny to see this gawky little one cuddled up to our fluffy hen. I've been trying to take a picture of them together but so far they are camera shy. The baby has been named "Pilgrim Peepers".

The other day I was at a restaurant with a play area & I noticed two adorable children that looked African. Sure enough, they'd been recently adopted from Uganda. They were sooooooooooo yummy cute! Makes me long to hold my own little African(s) in my arms asap!

I've been reading a lot lately about adopting children from Africa & adopting older children. There's so much to learn & I'm finding that other adoptive parents are one of my very best resources. Learning about all the things that can go wrong has been a bit scary, but I am reminding myself that surely we won't have ALL the possible problem-scenarios happen! There are just going to be LOTS of unknowns for us to depend on God for.

Home Study ...Again!

OK. We're trying to start our home study again. Our meeting is next Wednesday evening, July 16. We'll be meeting with our assigned social worker, Kim, who sounds like a very nice lady. I am excited and nervous at the same time!

John & I are also trying to carve out a week day when we can travel to the big city to submit our I-600 at Immigration. We'll be asking for official permission to bring one or two children into the country. It could take anywhere from seven weeks to four months to get the papers processed so we want to get at it asap.

Thanks for your prayers!

Mark Likes Cats!

I LOVE this picture!

North Dakota Road Trip

Mark & Ben (our very funny dog) in North Dakota.